DOAB and OAPEN enter into a new partnership with LYRASIS to develop its services for their U.S. partners

The Hague, 20 May 2021. The DOAB Foundation and OAPEN Foundation are pleased to announce a new partnership with LYRASIS. Through this partnership, DOAB, OAPEN and LYRASIS will establish a pathway for U.S. institutions to support the continuing development of open infrastructure services for open access (OA) books.

The Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB), a directory of 42,000+ peer-reviewed OA books from around 500 publishers worldwide, is a discovery service for open access books which can be easily integrated into library catalogs. All DOAB metadata is freely available to libraries. “The DOAB team is thrilled to start working with LYRASIS, thanks to this new partnership. Following our agreement with Project MUSE last year, we are excited to now have a new opportunity to collaborate with US libraries and make open access books even more discoverable to their users.” - Pierre Mounier, Deputy director of OpenEdition and co-director of DOAB

LYRASIS, a global non-profit membership organization providing technology and content services for libraries, archives, museums and research communities, is a leader in supporting OA resources and content models in the United States and beyond. As home to more than 1200 library members and users, LYRASIS is uniquely positioned to reach the institutions that will most benefit from the collections. “We are excited to work with DOAB and OAPEN to bring these vital resources to U.S. libraries. For nearly a decade, open access resources have been a strategic priority for our team,” says Celeste Feather, Senior Director of Content and Scholarly Communication Initiatives at LYRASIS. “This new partnership marks a major step toward unifying open access initiatives and moving toward a new paradigm of open worldwide.”

The OAPEN Library, a premium hosting platform home to 16,000+ peer-reviewed OA books from over 300 publishers, is set up to host and disseminate OA books while offering additional services in the areas of usage reporting and preservation. “We are excited about now working with LYRASIS to engage much more with U.S. institutions helping the transition to OA for books and explore further how we can cater better to the needs of U.S. academic publishers and libraries.” - Niels Stern, Director of OAPEN and co-director of DOAB

The OAPEN Open Access Books Toolkit is an open resource that aims to help academic book authors better understand OA book publishing, and to promote and increase trust in OA books.

Contact LYRASIS: Sharla Lair, Senior Strategist, sharla.lair[@]lyrasis.org Contact DOAB/OAPEN: Tom Mosterd, Community Manager, t.mosterd[@]oapen.org

About DOAB Foundation The DOAB Foundation is a non-profit legal entity under Dutch law (‘stichting’), established by the OAPEN Foundation and OpenEdition. The DOAB Foundation is responsible for the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) and is currently developing a certification for open access books.

About OAPEN Foundation The OAPEN Foundation is a non-profit legal entity under Dutch law (‘stichting’) with its registered office at the National Library in the Hague. The OAPEN Foundation is dedicated to open access books and operates three platforms. The OAPEN Library, the OAPEN Open Access Books Toolkit, and, in partnership with OpenEdition, the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB).

About LYRASIS LYRASIS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit membership association headquartered in Atlanta, GA, USA, supporting enduring access to shared academic, scientific and cultural heritage through leadership in open technologies, content services, digital solutions and collaboration with archives, libraries, museums and knowledge communities worldwide.